Steamed dumpling restaurant in Taipei named best in Asia
A restaurant chain in Taipei best known for its masterfully executed, soup-filled dumplings has been named the best restaurant in Asia.
Influential food blog The Daily Meal has released its picks for the 101 Best Restaurants in Asia putting Din Tai Fung at the top of their list, a restaurant chain that has become widely recognized as the standard bearer for xiao long bao, steamed dumplings filled with a rich, soupy broth.
Each dumpling is handmade to exacting precision: dough is rolled out and weighed to measure 21 g before being stuffed with a pork filling. Deft, skilled hands twist and seal the dumplings with a minimum of 18 pleats at the top, which are then steamed in bamboo steamers.
It’s the latest accolade for the brand: in 2010, its Hong Kong outpost received a Michelin star, the first Taiwanese restaurant to be inducted into the red book club.
Last month, the flagship Taipei restaurant also got a star-powered boost when it hosted actor Tom Cruise in a private xiao long bao cooking session.
Good news for dumpling aficionados? Din Tai Fung has exported their brand to countries around the world, including the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
-- China comes out on top --
The Daily Meal’s ranking of best restaurants in Asia begs for comparison with Restaurant magazine’s inaugural version which launched earlier this year.
Judges for Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, for example, crowned two-Michelin-star, hyper-sustainable Tokyo restaurant Narisawa the best on the continent.
And while Singapore dominated Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, editors at The Daily Meal rewarded China for its culinary offerings, with 28 of the 101 destinations listed coming from the Asian giant.
“As the country opened up after 1989, chefs began to arrive en masse eager to serve the people,” editors say. “The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games only compounded the culinary creativity with a who’s who of celeb chefs from Daniel Boulud to Joël Robuchon all setting up kitchens in Beijing, Shanghai, and beyond.”
Cities like Beijing, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo are also well represented on The Daily Meal’s ranking, as are smaller, unlikelier destinations such as Danang, Vietnam; Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, and even a parking garage in Tokyo for its seven-seater eatery Sushi Saito.
To compile their ranking, editors consulted the Michelin guide, restaurant critics, food and lifestyle writers and expats to draw up a preliminary list of 300 restaurants in 25 countries. A panel of two dozen experts were then called upon to whittle the list down to 101 picks based on plating, presentation, freshness, quality, and taste.
Here are the top 20 restaurants in Asia, according to The Daily Meal:
1. Din Tai Fung, Taipei, Taiwan
2. Duck de Chine, Beijing, China
3. Green T. House, Beijing, China
4. Temple Restaurant, Beijing, China
5. Capital M, Beijing, China
6. Varq, New Delhi, India
7. Dali Courtyard, Beijing, China
8. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong
9. Michel Bras TOYA Japon, Toyako-cho, Japan
10. 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA, Hong Kong
11. Restaurante Fernando, Macau
12. M on the Bund, Shanghai, China
13. Susu, Beijing, China
14. Beijing Da Dong, Beijing, China
15. Sukiyabashi Jiro, Tokyo, Japan
16. Bellagio, Beijing, China
17. Karavalli, Bangalore, India
18. Caprice, Hong Kong
19. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
20. Le Musée, Sapporo, Japan
For the full list, visit http://www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-restaurants-asia .
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